Colleges for Music Composition

Columbia University, Department of Music

• Columbia University's graduate program offers master's and doctorate degrees in music composition. The school focuses on the several aspects of composition, including music theory, computer music and performance. The MA program takes two years to complete, and the DMA takes three to four years. Composers from Columbia have won national and international composition awards, received distinguished commissions and have had their work performed by world-class orchestras and opera companies.

  Columbia University
  2960 Broadway, MC 1813
  New York, NY 10027
  212-854-3825
  music.columbia.edu

Oberlin College Conservatory of Music

• The Oberlin College Conservatory of Music was founded in 1865 and is the oldest continually operating music conservatory in the United States. Its facilities are exceptional, including five concert halls and 150 practice rooms. The student body is selective and small, numbering roughly 615 students, with a student/faculty ratio of 7 to 1. They offer a BA in composition, that is completed in four year.

  Oberlin College Conservatory of Music
  39 W. College St.
  Oberlin, OH 44074
  440-775-8413
  new.oberlin.edu/conservatory

Berklee College of Music

• The Professional Writing Department at Berklee College of Music is unique because it offers two composition majors: traditional and contemporary composition or jazz composition. The Composition Department deals with tonal and non-tonal music, orchestration, writing techniques, score preparation and advanced training in orchestral conducting. The Jazz Composition Department focuses solely on the jazz idiom, paying attention to melody, counterpoint, form, arranging, and orchestration. Much focus is placed on developing musicians' own style.

  Berklee College of Music
  1140 Boylston St.
  Boston, MA 02215
  617-266-1400
  berklee.edu

Columbia College Chicago

• The music department at Columbia College Chicago offers one of the few Masters in Fine Art degrees in film scoring. Their Music Composition for the Screen program focuses on the technical and creative elements that film scoring requires, while giving students the privilege of working with industry professionals on industry standard equipment. The final semester is spent in Los Angeles, where students prepare an original score that is recorded live by a studio orchestra.

  Columbia College Chicago
  600 S. Michigan Ave.
  Chicago, Illinois 60605
  312-663-1600
  colum.edu